The present invention relates generally to dispensers for sequentially dispensing rolls of tissue, towel, or the like of the general class used for commercial operations and institutions. In a preferred embodiment, the present invention is directed to a dispenser for sequentially dispensing coreless rolls of tissue utilizing a support sled mounted for generally vertical motion within the dispenser.
Absorbent sheet is frequently distributed in the form of a roll of strip material. There is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,214,014 to Perrin a roll of strip material having a separable core structure. It is well known that the winding of rolls of strip material such as paper toweling, bath tissue, or the like, may entail the utilization of a hollow, elongated cylindrical core which is customarily fabricated from cardboard or similar material. The rolls of strip material incorporating such cores may be supported by the location of bearing bosses in the opposite extremities of the core, the bearing bosses being adapted to permit rotation of the roll of strip material in order that lengths of strip material may be dispensed from the roll. When the roll of strip material is consumed, difficulty may be encountered in dislodging the cores from the associated bearing bosses. This is particularly true in the case of public washrooms where the attendants must mount and dismount large numbers of rolls of tissue and towel and the time consumed in mounting and dismounting rolls is greatly increased by the difficulties inherent in the mounting and dismounting of the core structures. In accordance with the aforesaid U.S. Pat. No. 3,214,014 there is provided a core structure constituted by a pair of core elements each of which is a cylindrical body which may be formed of cardboard, plastic or the like and which are disposed in end to end relationship. Alternatively, the elements of the core could be semi-cylindrical and disposed in face to face relationship. The so-called xe2x80x9csplit corexe2x80x9d product disclosed in the ""014 patent has the advantage that the strip material holds the core together, such that when the strip material is exhausted the core is readily disassembled into its component parts and removed from the dispenser. The split core material has thus enjoyed significant commercial success particularly for commercial operations and institutional use.
Likewise, it is desirable to have dispensers that dispense more than one roll of material in a sequential manner. For instance, this type of arrangement would allow an attendant to replace material much less frequently than would be the case for single roll dispensers. In connection with such dispensers, it is further noted that it is highly desirable for one roll of material to be exposed for use until that exposed roll is exhausted and a second roll is held in a reserved or covered position, until such time as the first roll is exhausted. In this connection there is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,381,909 to Tucker et al. an apparatus for sequentially dispensing rolls of strip material. In the ""909 patent there is shown a dispenser having two mandrels or spindles for receiving rolls of strip material fulcrummed about a central point. Upon installation a first roll is in a lower position and, upon exhaustion thereof, the spring biased mounting lever pivots about a center point whereby the mounting mandrel of the exhausted roll moves upwardly and a new or fresh roll moves downwardly into a dispensing position. Separable cylindrical mounts cooperate with the split roll material to activate the transition of the second roll to a dispensing position.
So also, there is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,294,329 to Tucker et al. another dispenser for sequentially dispensing rolls of strip material. In accordance with the ""329 patent there is provided a dispenser which may be readily refilled prior to the complete exhaustion of both rolls of tissue being dispensed therefrom. That is to say, it is not necessary to remove a partially exhausted roll in order that a full roll may be placed in the dispenser but merely necessary that a full roll can be placed in the reserve position while a partially consumed roll being dispensed is maintained in the dispensing position. In the device according to the ""329 patent there is provided sensor or detector means constituted by elongated detector arms pivotally mounted upon a common pivot pin for independent rotation with respect to the roll holder. Each of the sensor or detector arms is urged downwardly about the circumference of an associated roll by a torsion spring secured by a pivot pin. The sensor arms are coupled to latch dogs which engage a centrally located rib to hold the rolls of material in position. When a first roll is exhausted, the sensing arms activate the latch dogs so as to rotate the roll support frame so that a new roll is presented for dispensing.
Still another dispenser for sequentially dispensing rolls of tissue and the like is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,387,902 to Perrin et al. Unlike the patents discussed above, the ""902 patent is directed to a dispenser designed to hold two rolls on a sled or frame, generally in a vertical relationship wherein the lower roll is presented for dispensing and the upper roll lies generally under a cover in a first, or fully loaded position. There is further provided latch means for retaining the roll holder assembly in this first position which are releasable for permitting vertical movement of the roll holder assembly to a second position. The latch means are associated directly with a roll split core detection mechanism. The reported advantages according to the ""902 patent are that the split core geometry is utilized to minimize moving parts so that complicated and interconnecting arms and levers are not required. With the first, or lowermost roll of tissue in the dispensing position and the second or uppermost roll of tissue in the reserve or non-dispensing position, the first roll of tissue may be used in conventional manner and upon complete use of the wrapped tissue, the split cores are exposed and a housing latch spring bearing transversely against a sleeve latch engagement leg engaged with a housing latch stop will overcome the lessor resilient force of a holder spring of the roll holder, thereby pivoting the roll holder sleeve relative to the roll holder mandrel. The pivoting of the sleeve of the roll holder, by way of the housing latch spring, forces the sleeve latch engagement leg transversely off of a housing latch stop or shoulder freeing the roll holder assembly for further movement downward along the housing tracks. See also U.S. Pat. No. 4,143,827 to Tucker which shows a roll holder of the type disclosed in the aforesaid ""902 patent for mounting split core rolls of tissue. The roll holder of the ""827 patent is positioned in a dispenser moveable from an upper dispensing position to a lower exhausted position. The device includes blocking members at roll holder opposite ends normally retained inactive permitting a release operation in the presence of split core material but automatically moving to a position preventing proper operation upon lack of a split core product. This dispenser insures that the split core product must be utilized for proper roll holder functioning and that a solid core roll cannot be used with core stripping to cause the roll holder functioning. In any case, it is noted that avoiding core stripping from the roll can reduce undesirable littering.
While split core products have provided advantages in terms of ease of filling and replenishing dispensers, coreless products provide more useful material per roll, such that less storage space for shipping and dispensing is required for a given amount of product and there is no need to have expensive and wasteful cores which are discarded when the material is exhausted. There is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,370,336 to Whittington a dispenser for sequentially dispensing webbed material from a plurality of coreless rolls including a support sled mounted in a housing having a dispensing opening. The coreless roll holder support sled is slideably positioned in channels or tracks formed in the support and includes a frame and coreless roll support spindles connected to the frame at spaced locations. Each coreless roll support shaft is for insertion into a central aperture of a coreless roll. The coreless roll holder moves between alternate locations relative to the housing to provide selective manual access to the coreless rolls for dispensing. A lock retains the coreless roll holder in one of the locations until a coreless roll is depleted from one of the coreless roll support shafts and the coreless roll holder will automatically move to the second location under the influence of gravity. The coreless rolls are slid over the coreless roll support shafts which results in inward displacement of mandrels associated with the shafts and the consequent movement of a locking element to a locking position relative to the support assembly. When the lower tissue roll becomes substantially depleted, the mandrel underneath it will flex outwardly and the lock element will be withdrawn, allowing the roll support to slide downwardly and expose the second roll. The mandrels associated with the shafts include a plurality of detents and flanges to activate the locking mechanism.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a simpler, more economical and reliable support sled for sequential dispensers of the general type disclosed in the aforesaid ""336, ""827 and ""902 patents.
The overall appearance of dispensers in accordance with the present invention is typically such that there is provided an upper cover to sequester a reserve roll and a lower opening to present product to a user. Such designs may be seen for example in U.S. Pat. No. DES. 212,010 to Tucker. Another preferred design is seen in U.S. Pat. No. DES. 386,025 to Merver et al.
The disclosure of the foregoing patents is incorporated herein by reference.
A roll support sled adapted to support a plurality of rolls of absorbent sheet material, for example, coreless tissue for mounting in a dispenser is provided in accordance with the present invention. Typically, the roll support sled is mounted in a dispenser of the class including a pair of vertically oriented guide tracks for guiding the support sled in generally vertical motion for sequential dispensing of the rolls. At least one of the tracks includes latch means defining a locking shoulder. The roll support sled includes generally: (a) first and second spindles for receiving rolls of the absorbent sheet material; (b) first and second frame rails for supporting the first and second spindles, the rails being provided with guide means configured to cooperate with the guide tracks of the dispenser in which the support sled is mounted for guiding the support sled in generally vertical motion between an upper dispensing position and a lower dispensing position.
At least one of the frame rails is moveable with respect to the first and second spindles of the support sled and includes a first and a second retaining flange configured to releasably secure rolls of absorbent sheet about the first and second spindles of the support sled in a retaining position. The moveable frame rail is also moveable to an open position so as to allow the positioning of fresh rolls of absorbent sheet material about the first and second spindles.
At least one of the frame rails is provided with an inwardly biased latch dog assembly disposed adjacent at least one of the first and second spindles. The latch dog assembly is configured and mounted so that it is urged outwardly to a locking position upon disposing a roll of absorbent sheet material about its adjacent spindle and is biased inwardly to a release position upon depletion of the roll of absorbent sheet material disposed about its adjacent spindle. The latch dog assembly of the support sled is adapted to cooperate with the locking shoulder of the guide track of the dispenser to retain the support sled in the upper dispensing position while urged outwardly to its locking position. The sled is likewise configured and mounted to allow movement of the support sled to the lower dispensing position upon movement of the latch dog assembly to its inner release position. In this way the upper or reserve roll of absorbent sheet material is positioned for dispensing as will become apparent from the discussion and drawings which follow.